FALLEN military heroes will be returned home with the “dignity and respect” they deserve.

And the £2.8m repatriations centre at RAF Brize Norton, which opened yesterday, will also give grieving families the support they need.

The first Repatriation to the Oxfordshire airbase could take place next Thursday, when RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, which used to perform the role,
officially closes.

The new centre will give relatives space to pay their respects in private when their loved ones return It houses eight chapels, a private lounge and a special viewing platform that will allow
families to pay their respects as the plane carrying their loved ones lands.

The centre has been built in six months and came in under the original £3.2m budget.

Group Captain Dom Stamp, RAF Brize Norton station commander, said: “We are sure what we have got here will provide the best support that we possibly can to the families.

“I am very, very pleased with the results and I can think of nothing else that we could have included that would have enhanced the centre.”

He added: “The repatriation ceremony is obviously well known throughout the station and something that is very solemn, but it is something everyone at Brize Norton has taken a huge amount of pride
in.”